


Counting The Days (A New Start)

by SkyDancerr



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Season/Series 03, eleven deserved better, mileven did too, writing this to soothe the pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 08:17:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19663411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyDancerr/pseuds/SkyDancerr
Summary: Maybe it wasn't the same as last time, but it hurt just as much. But they were in love and they had each other, despite the distance.





	Counting The Days (A New Start)

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be honest, I'm still kind of in shock. Not only did Hopper DIE, but Eleven moved away and Mileven is separated yet again (thanks, Suffer Brothers). The season was amazing! But I cried so hard at the end. I want to write this to portray some pain I feel El would have. I have plans for some fluffy ones, too, don't worry!

The pain Eleven felt as she looked out the window of the moving truck was nothing like she had ever felt before.

She couldn't bare to look back; couldn't bare to look at her Mike, whom she knew was heartbroken, but she also couldn't look back at the town she'd called home for the past couple of years. 

So she just stared out the window beside her, letting her tears fall from her eyes as she tried not to think about Hop's letter she had read. It was too much. She missed him so much, it hurt. 

She instead found herself thinking about Mike. Of course, she did.

Leaving him was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. She wasn't killing the demogorgon this time. She was moving away. Away from him, away from Hawkins, away from the town that held so many gory memories.

She knew where Joyce was coming from when she told Eleven their plan. El didn't blame her for wanting to move away from that dark town, where evil followed them everywhere they went.

She'd always remember how painful it was to tell Mike she was leaving. In El's new room in the Byers' house, sitting on her bed; their hands intertwined; the radio playing quietly in the background, just like always.

_"Mike?" Eleven said quietly, her voice shaky. He stared at her, his eyes wide and his mouth dropped open. She could see the tears fill his eyes, and it made her heart break._

_"F-for real?" he asked, his voice choked. El swallowed roughly, her eyes filling with tears rapidly. She didn't want to leave him. She didn't want to leave him at all. He was the love of her life, for Christ's sake._

_She just nodded. Then said, "I'm sorry." He just sat there, blinking away his tears and taking a deep breath._

_"If...if that's what you guys have to do, to heal, then...I get it." God, she loved him so much. He was so understanding. She watched him look away for a second. She could tell he was staying strong for her._

_She threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you so much. So, so much."_

_He sniffled. "I'm going to miss you too." He pulled away. "But we'll call every night. And we can maybe write letters or something. And see each other over breaks and holidays. We'll see each other. We're not going to lose each other. Never again."_

_She pulled him to her again, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "Never," she repeated._

El bit her lip to not let out a sob.

Sometimes she couldn't believe that this is where she ended up. After fighting the Mind Flayer, watching Billy die, watching her friends get thrown around and their lives get put in danger, seeing Joyce's face in the parking lot and just _knowing_.

Not, after all of that, she was leaving Mike. Leaving her love.

She reached into the front pocket of her backpack at her feet. She pulled out the picture she'd tucked in there, along with some other memories.

It was the picture she had of Mike. The one of him in his _Ghostbusters_ costume. She'd gotten it from Mike after she'd complained that she didn't have any pictures of him for her room. She'd framed it and put her dice with the letters M, I, K, E right in front of it.

She ran her finger over his form in the picture, her face crumpling as her eyes ran over his pretty face. She'd never forget his face. She watched as a tear dropped from her face and onto the photo, right over his heart.

She brushed it away, before lifting it and holding it against her chest, closing her eyes and letting the tears stream down her cheeks.

Later, after they'd finally arrived at their new house in Michigan and all of her boxes were in her room, she sat down on her mattress, which was on the floor. She unzips her backpack and yanks out her Supercomm.

She pulled out the antenna. She held it up to her mouth and pushed the button. "Mike?" She let go of the button. She watched the clock as it turned to 7:01, one minute late. She listened to the static crackle on the other end.

Suddenly, his voice came through the speaker. "El! It's you!" She almost sobbed. He sounded so close, yet so far away. She missed him so much.

"Yeah. Hi, Mike."

"Hi, El." He paused. "Uh, how was the ride? Was it long?"

She nodded to herself. "Yes." She swallowed. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too, El. Like, a lot." He sighed. "But at least we can talk like this!"

He was trying to stay positive, but she could hear the pain in his voice, just around the edges. She knew him like the back of her hand.

She was silent, trying to keep her emotions at bay. Somehow he could sense her discomfort over the Walkie, so he spoke again. "El, I know it's hard. Trust me, _I know_ ,"-his voice broke slightly-"but we'll be okay. We're always okay."

She wiped away a tear. "I know," she said, her voice choked.

There was a pause. "It's..." He trailed off as if she were debating on what to say next. "It's day 1, 7:04 pm. I'm here, you're here. And even though we're not together, we still have each other and we...and we still love each other."

His words were so sweet and heartfelt she felt her eyes filling with more tears. God, how much could she cry in a day? "I love you, Mike," she sobbed into the speaker.

There was a sniffle, then," I love you, too, El." His voice was thick with tears, and she could tell he was finally breaking down. 

And, as both cried softly and whispered quiet conversation while doing so, hours apart but still feeling close, she knew, in her heart, that she'd be okay. They'd be okay.

Because they had each other.

Counting the days wasn't about waiting until she came back to him or counting the days he would be without her. No, it was counting the days of their new start.

Together, just like always.

**Author's Note:**

> I almost made myself cry, wtf. Them leaving each other again was very emotional for me but I'm trying to make it a happy thing, here. Anyways, I love them so freaking much and they were amazing and season 3 and their love is so, so strong. The kisses were amazing, and the way Mike was always there to comfort El, despite them being "broken up", and the i LOVE YOU SCENE KILLED ME, WHAT. Damn, they're so powerful.
> 
> I will be adding chapters to this for as long as I feel like it, just writing random chapters about them coping with the distance. *sobs as the song "The First I Love You" comes on*


End file.
